Pat, The soldier may not have had a choice. As a former Sailor, I was forced to do things I did not want to do, with a smile.

You're not going left, are you?

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Notwithstanding recent insults to the contrary, I'm as conservative as ever... perhaps more so. I'm just very sensitive about conservatives unwittingly embracing "liberal" behaviors either in public discourse or in their outlook.

I have found liberals to be largely without class, refinement, courtesy, kindness, warmth, and respect. They are gloomy, morose, bitter, rude, loud, pessimistic, negative, illogical, and guilt-ridden.

I realize my opinion differs from those here about the soldier in the picture above. But liberals do disrepectful, rude things - not conservatives. We may hate your guts, but we can't behave like snotty jerks to make the point. I guess it's the slippery slope theory... if we're judging it ok to be rude to people we don't like (Hilary) then it's a short walk to all sorts of liberal wacko behavior.

I am reflecting as I am writing this, and I think I have an insight as to why I feel the way I do. I was once renowned for being publicly confrontational and sometimes rude to people I disagreed with, and I'm filled with regret for my immaturity and foolishness.

Has anyone ever heard of the ultra-liberal Congresswoman from South Florida named Debbie Wasserman-Shultz? Look her up, she's a real gem. Back in the day, she was a state representative known for the most goofy, inane legislation that one could concoct. She once proposed to rewrite all Florida law in gender neutral language. So, I publicly renamed her Debbie WasserPERSON-Shultz, and challenged her to a debate. After months and months of refusing, I asked a mutual friend to arm twist her to come on my show. She finally agreed. I skewered her for a solid two hours on the air. I was brash, rude, overbearing, insulting, and grossly impolite. She came in looking very together, and left looking disheveled as if she'd gone three rounds with Chuck Lidell. At the end, when my theme music was playing, I took a final, un-Chistianlike swipe at her, and her eyes welled up with tears. and she looked at me as if I had crushed her spirit. As she left the studio, she turned to say that she'd never been treated so poorly in her life. She asked me, "what did I ever do to derserve such cruelty?" My producer later told me that she sobbed all the way to her car.

I was crestfallen. I wanted to crawl up into a corner and die. I realized the gravity of my mistake. I had defeated my opponent, but at what cost? I had won the debate but injured my soul and reputation. I had pointed out her errors in a way that caused me to lose the respect of my friends AND opponents. Even my fellow talk show hosts rebuked me publicly for the "chilling effect" it would have on us booking future guests. I received more death threats from that one program than all my time on the radio combined. In short, I screwed up royally by acting like a liberal, a viscious son-of-a-bitch, and I tarnished myself in the process. So, did I really win? No, I lost badly, and I never behaved that way again.

To this very day, I wish I could see Cong. Wasserman-Shultz in person, shake her hand, look her in the eyes, and beg her forgiveness. In fact, maybe I'll write a letter to her and stop in to see her when I'm in Washington next (if she'll see me). I could have won easily without being rude, or ill-mannered, or mean. Oh, she's still a wacked out leftist for sure, but she and Hilary Clinton, are due courtesy from me, and all genuine conservatives, no matter the setting.

If we cannot win the debate, and compel others to join with us, solely by the powerful logic of our arguments, then we have lost the debate before it even began.

Yes Bruce, I'm remain firmly conservative. But perhaps one who is a bit more kind and circumspect on how I share my conservatism with others. I'm doing pennance for past transgressions.

Pat, I truly appreciate how you feel, and think you are a heck of a man for telling us about it, much less wanting to right what you percieve as a wrong ....

BUT, (And I KNOW the old joke, "The Road to Heaven is clogged by all those big BUTS...")

I think there is a difference, when confronting Liberals DIRECTLY. While I agree we have to sway the "undecideds" to our side, and they may be turned off by such confrontation, I am NOT advocating stuping to their level with the lies, "Character Assasinations," Politics of Personal Destruction, et al....

But we MUST react, and not stay silent, when we ARE sucker punched by the bully...NOT by fightiing fire with fire, BUT at the very least by "setting the limits" that we will tolerate. We CAN passionately defend against, and even attack the lies and attacks, without necessarily being mean or rude.

President George Bush, yes I respect for trying to keep the Presidency "above the fray," but WHERE has that got him...MORE vitriol and hatred, MORE lies and attacks, not LESS.

I think that is one of HIS, and OUR mistakes...assuming many of the left, and in fact many of the "middle," are SOPHISTICATED enough to appreciate the "class act," turning the other cheek always....

No, we have all seen how lies, unchallenged, and repeated enough, especially with our lovely Liberal MEDIA that will not do THEIR job of challenging claims by BOTH sides, which WE as Conservatives would WELCOME, but instead will just repeat it, with NO forceful alternative presented PUBLICLY, DO become accepted as the "truth," by much of the PUBLIC.

And we've ALSO seen how "turning the other cheek" for example to International terrorism, DIDN'T make us safer, it led to MORE hits until 9/11....And I'm not SURE that extreme Socialist Liberalism is NOT as dangerous to American Freedoms.

"Turning the other cheek" to Liberals likewise got us the election results of '06....

No, you stand up to the bully, and ENGAGE Liberals....it has the same effect, they CANNOT stand up to aggressive reason....granted, delivered WITHOUT the hate.

I have a GOOD friend who I have known and worked with in several jobs since 1982, and we still stay in touch, as friends. But he is a "FLAMING" Lib, albeit not a VISCIOUS one (Except when refering to REPUBLICANS.... )...and we have had MANY "veins busting in our heads" arguments about everything from Abortion to Gore v. Bush 2000. We have hopefully caused the other to THINK a little harder about our arguments and positions. But MORE importantly, we remain FRIENDS to this day.

I never shy away from a spirited debate with a liberal, even to this very day. But I will no longer be rude, ill-mannered, and mean in order to win a debate. I've simply replaced my over-the-top verbal barbs for stronger, more persuasive, more polite arguements for my viewpoint.

Think about it... how many people did Morton Downy bring to our side? Now, how many has Rush Limbaugh brought? VASTLY diiferent approaches, and vastly different results. The Limbaugh approach works. Downy's approach just brought on fist fights, melees, and howls of laughter.

My way of debating the issues and confronting liberals these days isn't the "kinder, gentler" method of debate, it is simply the aggressive discussion of issues sans all of the insults, rudeness, and crude language. I'm not weaker because of it, I think I'm stronger and more pleasing to the ear.

Can you stand one more story? I may have told this one before, but it dovetails well with what we're discussing.

In the Presidential campaign of 1996, I was asked to be one of three questioners for a nationally televised debate on CSPAN between the Florida Republican Party and Democrat Party. It was held at Nova Southeastern University and there had to be 750 people in attendance.

Here was the question I asked the Democrats:

"Homosexual groups have maintained for years that there is a gay gene that make gay people gay. Medical science has not yet proved this, but for the purpose of this debate let's pretend that it has been proven true. If at some point in the future medical science can determine the sexual orientation of an unbron child, and the mother of that unborn child doesn't want to have a gay child, should she be allowed to abort that baby for this reason?"

The guy who answered on behalf of the Democrats was/is a labor lawyer (Surprise!) from Fort Lauderdale, whose name I will withold. He stammered for a about ten seconds, and then began to repeat (about eight times, as I recall) that "I can't believe you asked that question!" On the eighth time, I told him that "I can't believe you haven't attempted to answer the question yet." Well, this guy was a huge hot head who then began to turn shades of red and went on a wild, emotional, angry tirade. It was stunning to watch someone come unglued on national television.

He then turned his incoherant shout fest into an attack on then Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. Before I knew it, the guy said that he wanted to shoot Newt Gingrich in the face with his pistol! ON NATIONAL TELEVISION! So, I jumped up and demanded that the moderator put an immediate cessation to these proceedings as the Speaker of the House had just been threatened. It was a circus scene from there. People in the audience began to threaten me because I had asked such a provocative question it caused their Democrat debater to publicly melted down and it made fools of all of them. I had to get a police escort out of the place.

Lesson:Angry, vitriolic, nasty, rude, debate will make you lose every time. They lost the debate AND whatever dignity they came in with. They were rude, and VERY ill-mannered. The Democrats were bitter and they wanted blood. They were just being liberals and got clobbered in the arena of ideas!

Post script to this story: The Capital Police were watching the debate live. They immeidately called CSPAN and compelled them not to re-run it. They then took possession of the recordings. Additionally, the Capital Police called the FBI, and Secret Service. I can't remember which service came, but a group of Feds came to town the next day and literally put this guy in a dark room, shined a bright light in his face, and generally sweated him for about 24 hours straight with shouted questions. His political aspirations - and he had big ones - lay in shambles.

I maintain that, no matter the event or the setting, you do yourself and your cause a grave disservice when you think that being rude or impolite will forward your agenda or win you friends and influence people. If the soldier in the picture was forced to shake hand and take a picture, then he could have simply refrained from smiling and perhaps had a pensive look on his face. The hand gesture (rudeness) detracted from his cause.

let me just say that 1 reason i love conservatism is for it's political UNcorrectness! i'm NOT pc, never have been, never will be... sure, i know how to be polite & act like i should in public... i know how to show respect & all that stuff bc i was raised by conservatives, God fearing 1s! but, i dont believe in sitting back & taking the cr*p flung by the left. i'm not going to sit back & cower & cry like a leftist when confronted w/ their vitriol. the left loves for us to sit back & shut up & take their stuff, that's how they've whittled away at our constitution all these yrs. they are good at playing on the sympathies of people who truly care. they are all like undisciplined children who want what they want & take & take & take & take & take..... & manipulate you to take some more, until 1 day, you realize you are in an out of control situation....

if conservatives would just stop & think for a minute before they react & recognize the manipulation for what it is, they could put that bratty child in his/her place (or the flaming lib. ) there is nothing wrong w/ strong discipline! it's a GOOD thing, it builds GOOD character, it produces strong & independent adults & people who can take care of themselves!

soooooo...... i will confront every lib i can bc i'm not politically correct & proud of it! if i leave a trail of crying leftists.... SO BE IT!

as far as the soldier in the pic goes, i'd have taken the opportunity too & probably not handled it w/ as much tact, but that'd probably be the redneck in me shining thru.

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